Child Sexual Abuse and False Memory Syndrome

While this handbook on child sexual abuse will be of primary interest to professionals and legal experts, its 32 lucid articles written by professionals will also be of value to victims, patients and their families. The compendium aims to help those involved identify instances of child sexual abuse while protecting innocent adults who may be wrongfully accused. Some selections demonstrate in disturbing detail how damaging recovered-memory therapy can be, especially when hypnosislike procedures produce confabulated memories--i.e., fantasies inseparable from reality. Other contributors attest that many or most of the stories they hear alleging childhood incest or sexual abuse are true. Strong sections cover the role of childhood sexual molestation in the genesis of serious emotional disorders and the ethical issues facing marital and family therapists, lawyers, litigants and child protective-services workers. Baker (They Call It Hypnosis) has produced a dispassionate overview of a minefield. (Jan.)